Retire, Please! Having Come to the Fore, Big George Should Do the Noble Thing and Go Aft

Article excerpt

Our haywire sports world was in need of a warm, wonderful
story, and George Foreman wrote the pages for the ages.

Now there's actually a way George can top the script - the one
in which he knocked out young, whippersnapper Michael Moorer to
become the oldest heavyweight champion at 45. And the only way
Foreman can turn his deed into a true-life fairy tale is to . . .
say so long.

George will never write a more perfect ending - no matter how
much money is thrown at him. Everything else is risk, not romance.
If Foreman hangs around and waits for Mike Tyson, I'm afraid he'll
go out on his shield - a nice, noble euphemism for "stretcher."

Nobody wants to see that alarming finish, but then it's part
and parcel of the game. They all stay too long after the credits
roll, and George is already pushing 46. Records show that fighters
don't experience happy endings.

Foreman has been smart enough to choreograph his career,
remaining free from boxing's political leeches and Don King.
Hopefully, he is smart enough to retire before Tyson takes the
injustices of the world out on somebody's head.

Let us remember you, George, for pulling off the most marvelous
and improbable feat in boxing history: He became the oldest fighter
to win a title in any weight class.

Foreman did something few athletes get away with: He beat the
clock. Mahogany, '57 Chevys and yogurt supposedly get better with
age, not boxers.

His victory was for you, baby boomers. Two rounds from certain
defeat and likely extinction as a serious challenger, Foreman, the
charming dinosaur from the Ali-Frazier era, lowered the boom on
Moorer. He had not run out of time, after all.

Nineteen years younger than Foreman, Moorer showed no respect
while pounding his elder. He became lackadaisical - a common
problem with youth - and aligned his chin with George's powerful
right. Now Moorer must explain to his pals how an old man spanked
him. The punch traveled a short distance, but it came all the way
back from 1974. It covered ground dating to Foreman's embarrassing
title loss to Muhammad Ali 20 years ago that festered into a return
in 1987 and full-circle vindication. …